Help finding a knife maker in Tokyo Japan

david boone

david boone

Joined
Jul 9, 2001
Messages
396
Recently my Son was station by the Airforce in Japan 24 miles form Tokyo. He will be their for 2 years, he did not inheart my love for knives and knows nothing about what to look for in a good knife. If any one could put me get in touch with a good maker, or a web site it would help me a lot.
 
Being that your son is in the Air Force, it is very easy to have a custom knife made in the USA shipped to his APO address in Japan.

I would have your son contact Randall Made Knives. Randall's are one of the few knifes that are still hand forged. Randalls have about a 5 year waiting period, Unless you are active duty military serving overseas, then there is about a 8 week waiting period!!! Randall has a very rich history with US Military personnel and still support them, and can still get them for around $300 or so, which is a excellent price considering the value, quality and sheath that comes with a Randall. I was overseas with the military in 2003 and ordered a Randall and got it in less than 2 weeks!! They even customized it with some modifications I asked for. Great service. http://www.randallknives.com/

There are some other really good custom makers as well. Check out Ryan Wilson, at http://www.wilsontactical.com/knives.aspx He will also modify and make a knife to your specs and does great work.

If your son get a chance to do any travel throughout Asia while he is in Japan, tell him to head on over to Cambodia. Good custom knife shop based out of Phnom Penh. Citadel knives. Ran by a couple of French guys and they make excellent and good quality knives at very good prices if buy in Cambodia (most are under $100, but they sell them in Europe for around 3-4x that). THey also produce and custom make some of the nicest Japanese Katana Swords I have ever seen. Using all traditional techniques. They will sell in Cambodia for around $600 - $1500, but again they are being sold in Europe for 3-4x that amount. For the price of what a custom katana will run in Japan, your son could fly to Cambodia, spend a week in a 5 star hotel, eat at 5 star restuarants, see the sights, buy a Custom Katana and still have money left over in his pocket!

Also, if your son wants a real great semi-custom made folder, check out the Sebenzas by Chris Reeve. Can get them with various wood inlays or graphics, and they will even put a custom graphic or engraving on the handle for you. http://www.chrisreeve.com/sebenza.htm CRK also offers a good discount for Military personnel serving overseas, and Chris Reeve is a big supporter of the US Military. His fixed bladed one peice knives are also great quality and very tough.

Cheers!
 
I think the OP meant his son would like to get the Dad a custom knife from Japan....
 
leopardprey: Thanks for your feedback, the info. on Randall's was very helpful. But spyken was right I do want a maker from Japan.
 
david boone said:
leopardprey: Thanks for your feedback, the info. on Randall's was very helpful. But spyken was right I do want a maker from Japan.
Click to expand...

You had better check out Murray Carter who can be reached at murray@cartercutlery.com. His website is http://www.cartercutlery.com. He is originally Canadian, now in Oregon, but spent 18 years in Japan learning the ropes, and BTW is an ABS Master Bladesmith. He does fantastic work and is a great guy. His knives are already up there in value and will go much higher. If you want a working knife that has investment potential, take a look.

The same could be said of Mr. Itou in Fukui Prefecture. Gorgeous knives. I have three, one of which is a custom he made to my design, ordered at the annual Seki Knife Show. For examples of his work available right now, see http://japanesechefsknife.com/Page3.html.

Many of the other makers in Japan do superb work, but are much more common or less suited to US tastes, in my opinion. Seki and
Sakai, the latter of which is just south of Osaka, are perhaps the most famous sites for fine cutlery.
 
Anjin-san,

how did you get in touch with Itou-san? I was hoping to get a knife from him, after hearing so much about his R2 steel. I just dislike all the funny bright turquoise corian etc handles, prefer more natural materials. Was looking for a hunting knife which is not exactly what he's featuring on JKD. How are his sheaths btw?

Also, how do you rate his knives - initial sharpness, edgeholding of the R2, fit and finish as compared to Murray Carter's?

thanks.....
 
spyken...i've only handled one knife from itou.....it was a chef's knife....very sharp out of the box and the finish on it was great....the handle was nice but i don't care for al lthe crazy handle combo's either......i never shapened it so i can't compare it to another steel.....i think if you email koki at japanesechef'sknives.com he can order you a custom one.....let me know if u need any more info.....ryan
 
spyken said:
Anjin-san,

how did you get in touch with Itou-san? I was hoping to get a knife from him, after hearing so much about his R2 steel. I just dislike all the funny bright turquoise corian etc handles, prefer more natural materials. Was looking for a hunting knife which is not exactly what he's featuring on JKD. How are his sheaths btw?

Also, how do you rate his knives - initial sharpness, edgeholding of the R2, fit and finish as compared to Murray Carter's?

thanks.....
Click to expand...

I do not have any of Murray's knives, so I only go on reports of others, which uniformly seem to rave about them.

Itou-san's knives are scary sharp as delivered. One is so razor sharp that I simply put it away separate from all the others and never have used it . (That's the one he gave me as a present in 1997, BTW.) Fit and finish are superb. His sheaths have tooled designs and bronze hangers, at least the ones I have. Obviously very high quality, but as I said above, possibly different from prevailing tastes in the US. He is very creative.

He makes some awfully nice hunting knives and I can personally confirm that he does custom work to order. As I told Murray the other day, I was so impressed by Itou-san's work that I asked him to make a custom sgean dubh for me. I took a Randall Model 24 Guardian, the 4-inch blade two-edged dagger, from an adjoining table to his at one of the Seki Knife Shows and we pencilled out a single edged version with a Guardian-style hilt with formed indentations on each side and a half guard. It has his older version wavy figured blade -- I am not sure if it is damascus, as it looks like a single piece of steel. Perhaps someone here can tell me.

As I said, this was 10 years ago when he was not so well-known and he was sufficiently pleased about my custom order and obvious enthusiasm that he gave me an extra knife (!) All my scales are darkish brown hardwood.
 
leopardprey said:
If your son get a chance to do any travel throughout Asia while he is in Japan, tell him to head on over to Cambodia. Good custom knife shop based out of Phnom Penh. Citadel knives. Ran by a couple of French guys and they make excellent and good quality knives at very good prices if buy in Cambodia (most are under $100, but they sell them in Europe for around 3-4x that). THey also produce and custom make some of the nicest Japanese Katana Swords I have ever seen. Using all traditional techniques. They will sell in Cambodia for around $600 - $1500, but again they are being sold in Europe for 3-4x that amount. For the price of what a custom katana will run in Japan, your son could fly to Cambodia, spend a week in a 5 star hotel, eat at 5 star restuarants, see the sights, buy a Custom Katana and still have money left over in his pocket!

Cheers!
Click to expand...

However, despite the number of katanas in Japan, I would not bring it through here. The police are rather antsy about them. He can find out more at the Japan Sword store in Tokyo or schedule a weekend down at Seki City in Seki Prefecture to see them made. Knives are not a problem, although there are strict limits on carrying.
 
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